ArticleJournal of the Intensive Care Society2023
A randomised pilot feasibility study of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing recent traumatic episode protocol, to improve psychological recovery following intensive care admission for COVID-19.
Article in Journal of the Intensive Care Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04455360 (EMERALD), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
EMERALD: Can a Virtual Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Intervention Improve Psychological Outcome Following Covid-19 Related Critical Illness: A Feasibility Trial
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Clinical and cost-effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing for treatment and prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953) · 2025Pooled it
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment in the medical setting: a systematic review.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Pooled it
- Addressing mental health need after COVID-19: a systematic review of remote EMDR therapy studies as an emerging option.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) for ICU-related psychological distress among adult intensive care survivors: a scoping review.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing for post-traumatic stress in survivors of critical illness (EMERALD): a mixed-methods, randomised, single-blind, parallel group-controlled, feasibility trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Surviving Sepsis Campaign: international guidelines for management of sepsis and septic shock 2026.Intensive care medicine · 2026Article
- "The doctors and nurses looked like aliens': a qualitative study on the subjective hospitalization experiences of severe COVID-19 patients in Slovakia".International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- B.R.E.A.S.T. Study protocol: Benefits of R-TEP EMDR protocol in Addressing diStress and Trauma in breast cancer patients.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- "It saved me": A thematic analysis of experiences of psychological therapy following critical illness and intensive care.Journal of the Intensive Care Society · 2024Article
- Article
- "Without it, I am not sure I would still be here": a mixed methods service evaluation for online EMDR trauma therapy in a primary care network in England.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Approximately 50% of intensive care survivors experience persistent psychological symptoms. Eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) is a widely recommended trauma-focussed psychological therapy, which has not been investigated systematically in a cohort of intensive care survivors: We therefore conducted a randomised pilot feasibility study of EMDR, using the Recent Traumatic Episode Protocol (R-TEP), to prevent psychological distress in intensive care survivors. Findings will determine whether it would be possible to conduct a fully-powered clinical effectiveness trial and inform trial design. Method: We aimed to recruit 26 patients who had been admitted to intensive care for over 24 h with COVID-19 infection. Consenting participants were randomised (1:1) to receive either usual care plus remotely delivered EMDR R-TEP or usual care alone (controls). The primary outcome was feasibility. We also report factors related to safety and symptom changes in post-traumatic stress disorder, (PTSD) anxiety and depression. Results: We approached 51 eligible patients, with 26 (51%) providing consent. Intervention adherence (sessions offered/sessions completed) was 83%, and 23/26 participants completed all study procedures. There were no attributable adverse events. Between baseline and 6-month follow-up, mean change in PTSD score was -8 (SD = 10.5) in the intervention group versus +0.75 (SD = 15.2) in controls ( Conclusion: Remotely delivered EMDR R-TEP met pre-determined feasibility and safety objectives. Whilst we achieved group separation in PTSD symptom change, we have identified a number of protocol refinements that would improve the design of a fully powered, multi-centre randomised controlled trial, consistent with currently recommended rehabilitation clinical pathways. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04455360.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.